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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1978)
H, 4ioMa' i " li '-'Stf WHJ Pita-'-flgwftffeiWj.MyjTt3!r .wwwri BESSIE WETZBLL U OF ORE NEWSPAPER LIB EUGENE OR 97403 VOL. 96, NO. 51 4 - . .... . . I- t : l -t ! ...jgj ) rJ - ' ijf ; ' '- .- r.i , llfjt' - - 1 , ' rr -----rrt . 4 vj2i "V i ' VtfV F . V -rx . ' "k, ,; ' ; .if i: (Li--; ': 1 f 1 j Vii lJr5s.tJfefv.' f ii.li.. mm Kinzua brings pf.C- 'r M lV T;. ifH iie Flight I xf . ; Mjjl toarea .K ' :j' v.;-- Kinzua Corporation of Heppner brought the Emmanuel Hospital Life Flight helicopter to the area last week for demonstration purposes before taking the unit to the town of Kinzua. The Heppner-based firm has made arrangements for this unit and a second emergency helicopter service from LaGrande to be on call for emergency medical transportation residents of the . isolated town in the Blue Mountains. Board of Education seeks names for North End schools The Morrow County Board of Education is trying to solve an identity crisis in the county's north end. A new junior high school in Irrigon and a new elementary school in Boardman are to be built during the coming year, but as of yet, the two proposed schools have no names. To rectify the situation, the school board is inviting county residents to submit names for the two new buildings. Sug gestions for names should be received at the district office in Lexington prior to the board's Feb. 19 meeting, when a screening session on the name proposals is scheduled. During a school board meeting in Lexington Monday night, school district architect Bob Smith went over final plans for the two new build ings. The structures will be put to bid on Jan. 8, with a bid opening date set for Jan. 30. Smith reported that two other school construction pro jectsa multipurpose room at A.C. Houghton Elementary in Irrigon and a new shop building at Riverside High in Boardman are proceeding on schedule. Foundation work and plumbing is being com pleted at the Riverside facili ty, while slab work and cement floor pouring at the Irrigon school is nearing , completion. In order to meet new state building code guidelines, the m. b a mm aa a n i i board voted to spend an additional $4,500 at the Irrigon school in order to install a second layer of sheet rock on the multipurpose room's ceil ing. The board also voted to spend an additional $350 to apply stripes marking volley ball and badminton courts on Charlotte Gray is appointed Justice of the Peace by Gov. Gov. Robert Straub last week appointed Charlotte Gray the Heppner district's Justice of the Peace. w-i n i .omul t u 1 .omul i ,-s, Charlotte . t if ' 4 ' r I i 1 f i , M tiv, . '-ism 1 ' .. - ' v ' irnwii ii. wwfjuLt-.. Morrow County's Award-Winning Weekly Newspaper December 21, )C Y f the multipurpose room floor. After a lenghty discussion on which students qualify to use school bus service, the board tabled action on adopt ing a new bus transportation policy. In another development, it was announced that the school Mrs. Gray-had been serving as the pro-tern justice of the peace, following the retire ment earlier this year of Dee ,, -Mmm'- , -xmm. Gray The Eeppms f I board has reached an impasse in negotiations for a new contract with school district teachers. A meeting was set for Jan. 4 between teachers' representatives, board per sonnel and a mediator. Money is reportedly the key issue in the impasse. new Strauh Gribble. No stranger to courtroom procedures, Mrs. Gray served as clerk of The Dalles Munici pal Court for five years four of which were spent as deputy municipal judge. Her associa tion with municipal court affairs in The Dalles ended in 1976, when she moved to Heppner. The new justice of the peace is the mother of two sons. Kevin, 17, and Terry. 14. Her husband, David, is a log scaler. With her experience in court work at The Dalles, her applying for the justice court position in Heppner seemed a logical move. "It's the line of work I like to do," she said, "and it's exactly the kind of thing I was doing in The Dalles. Since assuming her justice court role, Mrs. Gray changed Cont. on page 3 HEPPNER. OREGON Port of Morrow eyed a site for log b A Washington-based log trading firm is negotiating with the Port of Morrow in an effort to locate a barge loading operation at the Boardman port facility. Harbor Timber Inc. of Carlsborg, Wash., hopes to ship some 15 million board feet of raw timber per year from the Blue and Wallowa mountains of Oregon down the Columbia River to Astoria, where the logs would be loaded onto Orient-bound ocean-going vessels. Robert Patton, Harbor Tim ber's president, appeared be fore port commissioners meeting in Boardman Satur day to outline proposals for locating the log barging facili ty at the Port of Morrow. Patton said his firm was recently incorporated to serve as a contractural partner with Kaiser Aluminum, in order to provide Kaiser with timber -i'viady for- shipment at deep- , sea ports. Kaiser, he said, "wants to fill out the back haul of its ocean freight business with wood." Patton explained that Kaiser, an importer of large amounts of raw materials from the Orient for aluminum and cement fabrication, would like to see its ships return across the Pacific with easily marketable timber. "We've been buying timber in the Blues and Wallowas, and have anticipated getting the logs into the river," Patton told the port commissioners. Timber already purchased by Harbor was scheduled to begin moving to ocean ports by train from a siding at Plymouth, Wash, on Monday. However, Patton indicated NEWS BRIEFS Heppner businesses open 'til 9 p.m. tonight Some Heppner businesses will stay open all day and until 9 p.m. tonight for holiday shoppers, Randall Peterson, merchants' committee chairman announced this week. Those businesses staying open are: Gardner's Men's Wear, The Lebush Shoppe, Kroll's Department Store, Peterson's 'Jewelers, Murray's Drug (also open Sunday from 12-4), Coast-to-Coast, The Shoe Box, Cole's House of Fashion and Posy Patch, and Case Furniture. G-T has early deadlines for next week's issue The Gazette-Times will have early deadlines for next week's issue because of the Monday holiday. All news and advertising must be in the G-T office by 12-noon Saturday. Krueger dismissed from city foreman position The City of Heppner is again looking for a new foreman for its street and maintenance crew following the dismissal of Randy Krueger from that position this week. Krueger, who has held the position for the last nine months was dismissed by City Administrator Marshall Lovgren after Krueger reportedly took the city pickup to Lexington, running it off the road near the Hughes ranch early Saturday morning. Lovgren told councilmen at a special meeting Monday evening that ' Krueger had been warned about taking the city pickup out-ot-town tor personal ino TWO SECTIONS-16 PAGES arging facility that he hopes rail transporta tion would be only a tempor ary solution to moving Har bor's timber downstream, due to high rail costs and the relative ease with which barged timber could be loaded onto ocean ships. "We're looking at a couple of sites (for a timber dock)," Patton said. "And the Port of Morrow is a good site, no question about it." Patton added that Kaiser Corp. "has budgeted a consid erable amount of money for buying timber from the area," and anticipated that when his operation moves into full swing, 40-50 barge loads of logs would leave Boardman for Astoria each year. The logs would be shipped downstream in 25-ton bundles on barges operated by Knap ton Towboat. Knapton repre sentative Robert Johansen told port commissioners that in . addition, .to barging for Harbor Timber, "we'd like to be able to draw some more business in the area. ..to be able to haul on the back trips and keep our machinery busy." Patton's tentative proposal calls for moving a 100-ton floating crape to the Board man port facility, where it would be anchored and used for loading Harbor Timber logs. The crane, owned by Brusco Booming of Longview, Wash., could also be used for loading or offloading any other freight for companies interested in using Boardman as a river port facility, according to Brusco officer Henry Brusco. Harbor Timber would also require leasing a 10-acre site on numerous ocvnsions at the port, where logs could be sorted and prepared for shipping. Patton said that five persons would need to be employed to operate the fatility. Although the Port of Mor row boasts a large section of river frontage property, with deep water at bank's edge, no barging facility has made use of the Boardman site. Port commissioners indicated they were excited at the possibility of opening the door to river transportation, but would ideally prefer constructing a permanent dock at the site, rather than using a floating boom. Patton indicated that his firm may be willing to negotiate with the port in constructing a permanent dock at some point in the future, "but first we have to see if this thing is going to get off the ground." Building a permanent dock facility, he noted,, would cost at least $200,000. Patton said his firm would also consider, entering an arrangement in which the Port of Morrow would build a dock and charge user fees to Harbor Timber. At any rate, Patton said, "We're ready to move. We could be ready for the first barge as early as March l,and could start hauling logs here by the first of January." Port commissioners voted unanimously to authorize new Port Manager E.S. "Buddy" Toadvin to work with Harbor Timber in hammering out a Growth 'just starting9 new Port Manager says The central role of the Port of Morrow is to "create more jobs and enhance the econom ic well-being of Morrow County." according to new Port Manager E.S. "Buddy" Toadvin. E.S. "Buddy" Toadvin Toadvin succeeded outgoing Port Manager Rupert Ken nedy earlier this month, after Kennedy was dismissed by the port commission over "differ 'ences in opinion." A civil engineer, Toadvin comes to Morrow County from Portland, where he has lived the past three and one-half years, employed by the Storch Corporation. The soft-spoken Louisiana native is no stranger to Port of Morrow operations, having served as the Port's engineer for the p,is! two years, mainly con 20 cents formal proposal. If such a proposal is drafted prior to the next regular port commission meeting on Jan. 11, the port commissioners indicated that they would be willing to call a special meeting to act on the matter. . In other action Saturday, the port commission voted unanimously to issue $4.5 million worth of bonds for funding anti-pollution equip ment and facilities for Pacific Northwest Generating Com pany's operation at the Carty coal-fired power plant. The complicated bonding process leaves the Port of Morrow with no financial liability in the event of a default. Morgan Guaranty and Trust in New York is trustee for the bond sale. Similar anti-pollution bond sales were previously held for the other two principals in the Carty plant in the amount of $34 million for Portland Gen eral Electric, and $4.5 million for Idaho Power. The bond sales allow federal and state tax exemptions on anti pollution gear at the power plant, while giving the Port of Morrow $26,100 per year in management fees. Boardman realtor Gene Allen of Mountain Valley Land Co. was sworn in as a new member of the commission during Saturday's meeting. Allen takes the place of former commissioner Frank Anderson, who resigned last month. cerned with developing the facility's water system. He is a 1958 graduate of Louisiana Polytechnic Univer sity, with more than 10 years experience in engineering municipal and other govern mental projects, including water systems, waste facili ties, highways, bridges, sub divisions, airports and recrea tion projects. Toadvin stressed that he plans to work closely in cooperation with city, county and port commission officials in future development at the Port of Morrow. Among items that he and port commission ers will be focusing on in coming months will be plans to develop an airport on port property east of the current food processing facilities, im proving access roads to the port, and attracting new businesses. Although the Port of Mor row may be an agency of government, "We're still in a highly competitive business," competing with ports from Hood River to the Tri-Cities in Jhe race to locate new industry, Toadvin said. ' Growth in northern Morrow County "is just start ingwe're just scratching the surface," commented the new port manager. "But I'm a firm believer in controlled growth," he added. "We Cont. on page 3
